the chief city. The other important cities were Philus, Cleonæ and Tiryns. Nauplia was the jort of Argos. Epidauria lay east of Argolis, and east and south of Corinthia. It was about twenty-three miles long from north to south, and about eight miles wide from east to west. Its only important city was Epidaurus, the capital. Epi dauria. Træzenia lay just south-east of Epidauria. It embraced the north- Træzenia. eastern half of the peninsula of Argolis, along with the rocky peninsula of Methana. Its greatest length was sixteen miles, and its greatest breadth, without Methana, was nine miles. Its only important cities were Trozen and Methana. nis. Hermionis lay immediately north of Epidauria and east of Træ- Hermiozenia. It constituted the western end of the peninsula of Argolis. It was about as large as Trozenia and its only important town was Hermioné. Islands. The littoral islands of Greece are numerous and important. The Littoral largest of these is Euboea (now Negropont), off the entire eastern coast of Attica, Boeotia and Locris, from which it is separated by a long, narrow strait or channel. It is more than one hundred miles long, with an average width of about fifteen miles. The island next in size to Eubœa is Corcyra (now Corfu), off the western coast of the peninsula, which is about forty miles long and from five to fifteen miles wide. Other islands off the west coast are Paxos, Leucas, or Leucadia, Ithaca, Cephallenia and Zacynthos (now Zante). Off the southern coast are Enussæ and Cythera. Off the eastern coast are Tiparenos, Hydria, Calauria, Ægina, Salamis, Cythnos, Ceos, Helené, Andros, Scyros, Peparethos, Halonnesos and Sciathos. The Cyclades and the Sporades extend in a continuous series, across the Egean Sea to Asia Minor. On the western side, from Corcyra and the Acroceraunian promontory, the opposite coast of Italy can be seen on a clear day. Besides the littoral islands already noted, there are several others, in the Ægean Sea, deserving mention. These are Lemnos, Imbros, Thasos and Samothrace, in the north of the Egean; Tenos, Syros, Gyaros, Delos, Myconos, Naxos, Paros, Siphnos, Melos, Thera, Amorgos, etc., in the Central Ægean; besides the littoral islands of Andros, Ceos and Cythnos; and Crete, to the south of the Egean. Crete is one hundred and fifty miles long from east to west, with an average width of about fifteen miles from north to south. Its area is considerably over two thousand square miles. Its principal cities were Cydonia and Gnossos, on the nothern coast, and Gortyna, in the interior. The entire island is mountainous though fertile. The Greek islands off the west coast of Asia Minor, in the eastern part of the Ægean Sea, are Lesbos, Chios (now Scio), Samos, Icaria, Cos, Rhodes and a number Other Islands. of lesser islands. Southeast of Asia Minor, in the north-eastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea, is the large island of Cyprus, colonized by Greeks. Homer's Herod otus, Thucyd ides, Diodorus and SECTION II.-PRIMEVAL GREECE AND THE HEROIC AGE. THE early history of Greece embraces legends, traditions and fables covering the period from about B. C. 1856 to about B. C. 1100. The native Grecian sources are Homer's two great epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which, whatever their real origin may be, must ever remain the chief authority for the primeval condition of Greece. Modern criticism coincides with ancient in regarding them as the most ancient remains of Grecian literature that have been transmitted; and if their real date was about B. C. 850, as now generally believed, they must be considered as the only authority in Grecian history for almost four centuries. Another native Grecian authority was Herodotus, who, though writing chiefly about the great Persian War, gave a sketch of previous Grecian history to the most remote antiquity, and was a reliable authority for the antiquities of his own and contemporaneous nations. Plutarch. Thucydides was also a great Greek authority. The opening sketch of his history gives the opinions of enlightened Athenians of the fourth century before Christ concerning the antiquities of Greece. Diodorus Siculus gathered from previous writers, especially from Ephorus and Timæus, the early traditional and legendary history of Greece, and related it in his fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh books; of which the fourth and fifth remain, the other two being lost, excepting a few fragments. Much interesting and valuable information of primitive Grecian history is given us by the ancient geographers, especially such as Strabo, Pausanias and Scymus Chius. Plutarch's Lives treat of but one character of this early period-Theseus. Modern Authorities. Value of Oral Tradi tions. Early Inhabi tants. Among celebrated modern writers on ancient Greece may be mentioned the eminent Germans, Heeren, Niebuhr, Curtius and Müller, and the English authors, Clinton, Mitford, Thirlwall and Grote. We can see that the value attaching to the early historical narrative will depend on the opinion formed regarding the probability of oral traditions transmitting correctly the general outline of important national events, and likewise on the question as to what time the historical events began to be contemporaneously recorded by the Greeks in inscriptions or otherwise. The Greeks of the historical period appear to have had no traditions concerning a migration of their ancestors from Asia. They believed their forefathers had always been in the country, though they had not always been called Hellenes, which was the name by which the Greeks called themselves. They called their country Hellas. The names Greece and Greek, or Grecian, were originated by the Romans. Greece had been inhabited from very early times by races mainly homogeneous and chiefly allied with their own people. These were the Pelasgians, the Leleges, the Curêtés, the Caucones, the Aones, the Dolopes, the Dryopes and many other barbarous tribes. All these tribes were pure Aryans, being thus related with the Hindoos, the Medes and Persians, and the different nations of Europe, which had migrated from their primeval homes in Central Asia in prehistoric times. The Pelasgians were by far the most important of all these early tribes. They were savages, feeding on roots and acorns, and clothing themselves with the skins of beasts. The Pelaspic, or ante-Hellenic period of Greece was characterized by general peace and was the golden age of the Greek poets. The general pursuit was agriculture. The Pelasgic architecture was massive and not much ornamented. The religion was simple, and there were no distinct names of gods. The national sanctuary was at Dodona. The Pelas gians. The The Hellenes proper had originally been but one tribe out of many cognate Aryan nations. They had inhabited Achæa Phthiotis or the Hellenes. country near Dodona, and had originally been insignificant in numbers and of little importance. But in the course of time they became more famous than any of the other tribes. They were consulted and appealed to for aid in times of difficulty. Other tribes adopted their name, their language and their civilization. The Hellenes developed and diffused themselves by their influence and not by conquest. They did not subdue or expel the Pelasgi, the Leleges or other tribes, but by degrees assimilated them. Ionians There were only two original Hellenic tribes, the Achæans and the Achæans, Dorians. The Achæans were in the ascendant in early times. They Dorians, had occupied Achæa Phthiotis from a very early period, and were the and most important race of the Peloponnesus before the Dorian occupation. Eolians. They are said to have had three kingdoms in the Peloponnesus-those of Argos, Mycenae and Sparta-all of which had reached a considerable degree of civilization and prosperity. The Dorians were said to have dwelt originally in Achæa Phthiotis with the Achæans; but the earliest discovered home was the region of Upper Pindus, which was called Doris until the Roman period. In this "small and sad region " the Dorians became great, increased their population, acquired warlike habits, and developed a peculiar discipline, different from the other Greeks. The Ionians were the most important Pelasgic tribe, and in early times they occupied the entire northern coast of the Peloponnesus, |